"For them to be able to return to these lands, maybe they can improve their lives."

Grossman called on the army to give up other land that it had seized, but was no longer using. "We shouldn't have to go to court every time," he said.

The army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jalud village council leader Abdullah Hamed welcomed the army's decision to surrender control but said villagers were still waiting for a second decision allowing them to actually return to their land.

He said that before it was confiscated, the land had supported up to 1 000 people.

Israel seized the West Bank in the Six Day War of 1967.

In the early years of the occupation, the army confiscated large tracts of the territory for military purposes.

Some were later used for the construction of Israeli settlements regarded as illegal by the international community.

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